Life-belt.



G. M. ANDERSEN.

LIFE BELT.

APPLIcAToN FILED N0v.15,1913.

Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

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GULLOW M. ANDERSEN, 0F CHICAGO, ILLIOIS.

LIFE-Buur.`

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 29, 1914.`

Application filed November 15, 1913. Serial No. 801,294.

To all whom t may concern sEN, a citizen of the United States, residingat Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of illinois, have inventedcertainnew useful Improvements in Life-Belts, of which the following isa specification.

The present invention relatesto a belt or appliance worn by a person forthe purpose of preventing drowning, and is in the nature of a lifepreserver. .i

The objects of the invention are topro vide an appliance of a naturewhich enables it'to be worn by the user beneath the ordinary clothingwithout producing any bulg ing or other unseemly configuration oftheclothing; to provide'means for inflat-ing the belt or preserver whichwill act automatically when subjected to the action of water; and toprovide a belt or appliance which is cheap and simple of construction,and which will be certain of operation when necessity arises.

The invention further consists inthe fea-` tures of construction andcombination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In `the drawings: Figure 1 is an elevation of the belt or preserver ofthe present invention with portions thereof broken out; Fig. Q is across section showing by means of dotted lines the belt or preserver inin- Hated condition, and showing the' conduit through which thegas-producing substance is placed in the belt in closed condition; Fig.3 is a cross section of the character ofv Fig. 2, showing the conduit inopen position for the purpose of inserting a charge of gasproducingsubstance; and Fig. 4 is a detail section taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

The present invention relates, as above stated, to a belt or appliancewhich is adapted to act as a life preserver when persons are cast inwater. Use is made in the present invention of a certain chemical com*position which, when subjected to the action of water, acts quickly togenerate and pass off a gas. This gas is utilized for the purpose cfinflating the body of the appliance, giving to the same the buoyantquality necessary to keep the person aiioat on top of the water.

Referring to the' drawings, and particularly to Fig. 1, the deviceconsists of la body or bag portion 5 which is made of waterperviousmaterial, and preferably of afabric and woven grade of cotton. The `bagor body portion has extending therefrom a neck G, and the body and neck,as a` whole, are formed of two sections of material, each of closeweave, as, for instance, a tightly Be 1t known that I, GULLow M. ANDER-vsimilar' in configuration, which `are joined together' bysuitablestitching 7. Within the interiorof this bag or body portion is` a sackSwhich actsas a retainer for a chemical composition, which composition,when 4subjected to the action .of water, generates and passes oif a gas.

fl do not limit the present invention for use with `any particular formof chemical composition. One composition which would be adapted for thispurpose is a mixture of bi-carbonate of soda and tartaric acid inproportions of 1 quantity of bicarbonate of soda to 2of tartaric acid.This composi tion, when subjected to the action of water,

will quickly generate and pass off gas, and,

in fact, it has been found that a composition of this i nature willproduce suflicient gas withina period of about ten to fifteen seconds.to iniate a bag `sufficiently to hold a person afloat andvpreventdrowning. This composition 9 is placed within the retainer 8,

and this retainer is also of a water-pervious character, and preferablymade of a fabric of a more open weave than the weave of the body or bagportions 5, so that, when the water passes through the body portion, itl

will quickly enter and act upon the substance within the retainer. Asheretofore stated, the body or bag portion is provided with a neck 6.This neck serves as a con- ,duit to permit of the insertion of a chargeof gas-producing substance within the retainer S. The neck is attached`at its free end to a belt or band 10 which is embodied in the means forattaching the appliance to the body of the wearer. kThe method ofattachment is such as to provide an open yend 11 for the pouring ofl thegasproducing mixture thereinto. This will be clearly understood byreferring to Fig. 3, and this neck, as also shown in Fig. 3, as well asin Fig. 1, leads to or communicates with a neck S extending from theretainer '8, the neck Sa, in fact, extending into the neck 6, whereby,when the substance is poured into the neck 6, into the retainer. Vhenthe retainer is charged, the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 3,but after the charging operation,

it readily passes the open end of the neck is closed by turning thestrap 10, thus wrapping the neck about the strap in the manner shown inFig. 2, and thus the open end of the neck is closed and the escape ofgas upwardly and out of the open end of said neck is prevented. Meansare provided for holding this neck in this wrapped condition, which, asshown, consists of a strap 12 held in place by a button or othersuitable fastening means 13. By this arrangement, a very simple andinexpensive construction is provided to enable the placing of a freshcharge of gas-producing substance within the retainer. When the deviceis in non-acting condition, that is, when the charge has been placed inthe retainer, but has not been subjected to the action of water, it isin a at condition, as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, and will be of anature whereby it can be attached to the wearer beneath the outerclothing without producing any unseemly configuration or disorder of theclothing, and as the device is light-weight, no discoi fort of anynature will be entailed by placing the same upon the wearer. By the useof fabric of this nature, the need of an interlining of rubber or othersimilar substance is eliminated, and thus the article can be produced ata much lower cost than would be if an interlining were used. Owing tothe fact, however, that .the device is worn close to the body of thewearer, I have provided a strip 111 of sheet rubber or othermoisture-proof material, which is positioned between the receptacle 8and that portion of the bag 5 which lies neXtto the wearer. This is toprevent the moisture from the body of the wearer entering the bag 5 andaffecting the chemical composition in a manner to cause the generationof gas and inflation of the device while it is being worn by the wearerand before any necessity for inflation arises, if it is the intention toonly have the gas generated and the bag inflated when the wearer becomesimmersed in water.

By the use of the composition heretofore referred to, namely,bi-carbonate of soda and tartaric acid, sufficient gas can be generatedto inflate the bag to the necessary extent to serve as a life preserver,within ten to. fifteen seconds after the wearer has been immersed inwater, which, of course, would be amply quick to prevent drowning.

Although the device has been described with particularity, variances inthe details of construction may be made, and it is not, therefore,intended to limit the scope of the invention other than by the terms ofthe appended claims.

As will be seen from Fig. 1, the bag or body portion is suspended fromthe belt by means of tapes. This allows the body portion freedom ofmovement when expanding,

and thus allows of the maximum expansion without restraint and withoutany binding upon any of the other parts.

I claim:

1. A life saving appliance comprising a bag-like body portion ofwater-pervious material, a water-pervious receptacle for a gasproducingsubstance within said body and having its interior in directcommunication with the interior of the body solely by reason of theporosity of the receptacle. means for permitting the charging of saidreceptacle with gas-producing substance, and means for attaching theappliance to the body of the wearer, substantially as described.

2. A life saving appliance comprising a bag-like body portion of wovenfabric, a woven-fabric receptacle for gas-producing substance withinsaid body and having its interior in direct communication with theinterior of the body solely by reason of the porosity of the receptacle,means for permitting the charging of said receptacle with gas-producingsubstance, and means for attaching the appliance to the body of thewearer, substantially as described.

3. A life saving appliance comprising a bag-like body portion ofclose-weave fabric, a woven-fabric receptacle for a gas-producingsubstance within said body and of a more open weave than the weave ofthe fabric comprising the body ofthe appliance and having its interiorin direct communicationv 'with the interior of the body solely by reasonof the porosity of the receptacle, means for lpermitting; the chargingof said receptacle 4with gas-producing substance, and means forattaching the appliance to the body of the wearer, Substantially asdescribed.

4. A life saving appliance comprising a bag-like body portion ofwater-pervions material, a water-pervious receptacle for gasproducingsubstance within said body, a section of moisture-resisting materialarranged to prevent passage of moisture from the body of the wea-rer tothe gas-producing substance within the receptacle with gasproducingsubstance, and means for attaching the appliance to the body of thewearer, substantially as described.

5. A life saving appliance comprising a bag-like body portion of wovenfabric, a woven-fabric receptacle for gas-producing` substance withinsaid body, a section of moisture-resisting material arranged to preventthe passage of moisture from the body of the wearer to the gas-producingsubstance within the receptacle` means for permitting the charging ofsaid receptacle with gasproducing substance, and means for attaching theappliance to the body of the wearer, substantially as described.

6. A life saving appliance comprising a ,bag-like body portion ofclose-weave fabric,

a woven-fabric receptacle for a gas-producing substance Within said bodyand of more open Weave than the Weave of fabric comprising the body ofthe appliance, a section of moisture-resisting material arranged toprevent the passage of moisture from the body of the wearer to thegas-producing substance Within the receptacle, means for permitting thecharging of said receptacle with gas-producing substance, and means forattaching the appliance to the body of the wearer, substantially asdescribed.

7. A life saving appliance comprising a bag-like body portion ofWater-pervious material, a Water-pervious receptacle for a gasproducingsubstance Within said body, a

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingWashington, ID. C.

neck extending from said body and providing a conduit leading to saidreceptacle to enable the charging thereof with gas-proy ducingsubstance, means for securing the appliance to the body of the wearer,including a band-like section, said neck being attached to saidband-like section, and said neck being adapted to be folded about saidband to close the open end thereof, and means for maintaining said neckkin folded position, substantially as described.

GULLOW M. ANDERSEN.

Witnesses:

WM. P. BOND, THOMAS A. BANNING, Jr.

tlie Commissioner of Patents.

